No law 'fix' yet for Wampanoag tribe

A bill that would have made the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe's road to an Indian casino less bumpy has once again stalled in the U.S. Senate.

This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., was poised to introduce a so-called "Carcieri fix" to the lame-duck session, but negotiations apparently broke down. The bill is aimed at leveling the playing field for tribes after a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court ruling questioned the federal government's authority to take land into trust for tribes recognized after 1934, the year of the Indian Reorganization Act.

In that ruling, so named because it involved a dispute between then-Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri and the Narragansett tribe, the high court provided a strict interpretation of the word "now," meaning 1934 or before. The Mashpee tribe, which has a trust application pending for 140 acres in Taunton and 170 acres in Mashpee as its initial reservation, was recognized in 2007.

According to Tuesday's Congressional Record, Reid said he would push the legislation forward by filing for cloture — a procedure that blocks a Senate filibuster and requires a vote of 60 senators. Later that day, Reid reversed course.

"As I indicated this morning, we are trying to work our way through a number of issues," said Reid, according to the Congressional Record. "We thought we were going to be able to move toward the Carcieri matter this evening, but we are still negotiating this matter, so we are going to have to do that at some subsequent time."

When remains unclear.

A spokeswoman for Reid's office requested questions in writing, but did not respond Wednesday. "It's just a delay," Emily Deimel, a spokeswoman for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said Wednesday afternoon. "We expect it to be considered in this session."

U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, has said passing a Carcieri fix is a priority of the lame-duck session, and that remains true, Deimel said. Akaka, who has been in the Senate since 1990, is retiring and wants to leave with the issue resolved, she said.

Opponents to a Carcieri fix, including U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., have said they want a fix tied to changes in Indian gaming regulations, particularly "reservation shopping," a term for tribes picking land based on the best spots for casino gambling rather than their heritage.

The Mashpee tribe, which hopes to build a $500 million casino in Taunton, has long held the position that the Carcieri ruling does not apply to them because they can show the tribe was under federal jurisdiction when the Indian Reorganization Act was enacted.

Still, a Carcieri fix would help the tribe avoid inevitable lawsuits if the Bureau of Indian Affairs approves its land-in-trust application without Congress settling the high court ruling.

"While we don't need a fix in order to have land taken into trust, a resolution to the uncertainty caused by the Carcieri decision would certainly be welcome and would likely spur economic development and job creation throughout Indian country," Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council, said in a prepared statement.

The land issue is significant to the tribe because at any time the Massachusetts Gaming Commission can put the Southeastern Massachusetts casino license out to competitive bid if it determines the tribe has exhausted its federal options.

The tribe already faces another significant federal hurdle. The compact reached between tribe leaders and Gov. Deval Patrick was rejected and the two sides are attempting to negotiate a compromise that will pass muster.